Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700

The Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 is a Windows tablet with a magnetic keyboard cover so you can be productive on the go. It's a less expensive yet flashier alternative to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 is a Windows tablet with a magnetic keyboard cover so you can be productive on the go. It's a less expensive yet flashier alternative to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

June 25, 2016Joel Santo Domingo

The Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 (starts at $749.99; $769.99 as tested) is a slate Windows tablet with an included keyboard cover. If it looks familiar, it's because it's meant to be Lenovo's answer to the Editors' Choice–winning Microsoft Surface Pro 4. With its fanless Intel Core m5 processor, full-size keyboard cover, and higher-than-1080p screen, the Miix 700 ticks most of the right check boxes, and you don't have to budget extra for the almost-necessary add-on keyboard. As such, it's a shoo-in as our first Editors' Choice for midrange Windows tablets.

Design and Features The gold-colored magnesium-alloy Miix 700 measures 0.35 by 8.27 by 11.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.73 pounds alone. The included folio keyboard case adds an additional 0.22 inch of thickness, and clipped together, the two pieces weigh 2.46 pounds. That's the same weight and just a smidge thicker and wider than the Surface Pro 4. The Samsung Galaxy TabPro S is thinner and lighter than both, however.

The 12-inch touch screen has a higher-than-1080p resolution of 2,160 by 1,440, which is fairly common for Windows slate tablets; it's seen on the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and the Samsung GalaxyTab Pro S, for example. HD videos are displayed natively, letterboxed on the screen, with black bars above and below the picture, and text and images are bright and clear. On a screen with an even higher resolution, such as the Surface Pro 4's (2,736 by 1,824), text will look even sharper. The Miix 700's integrated speakers are somewhat soft—fine for a quiet room, but you'll strain to hear movie dialogue over the constant drone of air conditioning or in a busy coffee shop.

The kickstand on the back differs from the adjustable stand on other tablets (such as the Surface Pro 4) with its watchband-style hinge. Like the hinge on the Lenovo Yoga 900S, it consists of three rows of faceted, interlocking metal rings and opens from 0 to about 160 degrees. It's easy to prop up the tablet on a table and use it while you're standing. There's enough friction to keep the stand steady even if you're drumming your fingers on the touch screen. There's no kickstand on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S, so you're limited to the two angles built into that tablet's folio case.

The keyboard is comfortable to use on a tabletop or lap. The case attaches to a magnetic connector on the bottom of the tablet itself. As with the Surface's Type Cover, a second set of magnets in the folio keyboard's hinge lets you prop the keyboard surface at an angle above the table. Key travel is shallow, but there's enough bounce in the key springs that you'll probably be able to last a few hours before fatigue kicks in. The scalloped keys feel better than the flat keys on the HP Spectre x2, though the metal keyboard deck make its folio case feel sturdier. Unlike the Surface Type Cover or the Spectre x2's keyboard, the Miix 700's keys aren't backlit.

The one-piece touchpad below the keyboard is as responsive as the touch screen. The Miix 700 doesn't come with an Active Pen, however, so you'll have to pay $39.99 extra for it. It has 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and two side buttons, but Lenovo's Active Pen lacks the eraser-style button on the Surface's stylus that opens OneNote quickly. The pen responds quickly to input and is easy to use, aside from missing the OneNote shortcut. I was able to create quick sketches and sign documents in seconds.

The right side of the system has one USB 3.0 port and a micro HDMI port. The Surface Pro 4 is similar, though that uses Mini DisplayPort instead of micro HDMI. On the left side there's a combination USB 2.0/Power port, which can be used for mice and keyboards if the AC adapter is unplugged. While that's technically more versatile than the Surface's scheme (only one USB 3.0 port and a proprietary charging port), in practice it's not a huge advantage—you can still only plug in one USB peripheral while the tablet is charging. The HP Spectre x2 sports a pair of newer USB-C ports for charging and connectivity, but that means you need to carry adapter cables for USB 3.0 accessories. The headset jack is also inconveniently placed on the top of the Miix 700; connected there, your headset's cable has a tendency to slip over the screen and block your view.

The tablet comes with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Quite a few apps are preinstalled, including Flipboard, McAfee LiveSafe, and nine Lenovo utilities. That's not too bad, but you should budget some time to remove the ones you don't use, since 128GB can fill up quickly. There's a microSD slot to expand the tablet's storage space. Lenovo covers the Miix 700 with a one-year standard warranty.

Performance The base version of the Miix 700 comes with an Intel Core m3 processor, but an Intel Core m5-6Y54 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 515 powered our review unit. The benefit of the m5 is that it can be installed without a fan, which helps keep the tablet thin. The Miix 700 returned a good score of 2,532 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test, less than 100 points behind the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Lenovo Yoga 900S. For day-to-day tasks like creating office documents, viewing webpages, and video conferencing, the Core m5 chip is as good as the Core i5 in the Surface Pro 4.

Results are a little different for multimedia tasks like video transcoding and photo editing, however. The Miix 700 took 3 minutes, 43 seconds, to complete the Handbrake test and 6:39 for the Photoshop CS6 test. The Surface Pro 4 was 1:23 faster on Handbrake and 3:29 faster on Photoshop. That said, the Miix 700 was still minutes faster on both tests than the Atom-powered Microsoft Surface 3. The Miix 700 is fine for occasional multimedia use, but if you're a graphic artist, we'd still recommend the Surface Pro 4 for detailed sketch work. The animation was little better than a slideshow on our 3D gaming tests. Save playing the new Doom on your home gaming desktop; it will look terrible on the Miix 700 (and virtually every other tablet with integrated graphics).

Battery life is strong: The Miix 700 lasted 8 hours, 55 minutes, on our rundown test, so under typical usage scenarios it should last all day. That's longer than tablets that used older Core M processors like the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi and Acer Aspire Switch 11 V (SW5-173-632W). The Atom-powered Surface 3 lasted about an hour longer, and the Surface Pro 4 lasted 1:20 longer than the Miix 700.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700 is an excellent value for the money. The keyboard gives you the flexibility of a laptop, and unlike the Surface Pro 4, it's packed in. And battery life here is good, as is portability. It doesn't knock out the Surface Pro 4 as our high-end tablet top pick, because it costs about $500 less (or $630 if you add the Type Cover). If you're seeking a budget-friendly Surface Pro alternative, the Miix 700 is certainly worth a look.

About the Author

Joel Santo Domingo is the Lead Analyst for the Desktops team at PC Magazine Labs. He joined PC Magazine in 2000, after 7 years of IT work for companies large and small. His background includes managing mobile, desktop and network infrastructure on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Joel is proof that you can escape the retail grind: he wore a yellow polo shirt early in his tech career. Along the way Joel earned a BA in English Literature and an MBA in Information Technology from Rutgers University. He is responsible for overseeing PC Labs testing, as well as formulating new test methodologies for the PC Hardware team. Along with ... See Full Bio